Rainwater Drainage Design for Vaccine Facility in France

Project delivery experts PM Group approached Capcon Engineering to design the rainwater drainage systems for a major vaccine facility in France. As sub-consultants of PM Group, our designers worked closely with the design team leading the project during the BoD (Basis of Design) phase.

The building design was densely packed with complex processes and services requiring a high level of coordination – very typical of pharmaceutical buildings. Leaving the rainwater drainage design for later in the design phase or for Main Contractor to deal with can cause significant coordination issues, particularly in pharmaceutical construction, creating disruption and delays to build programme which ultimately leads to increased costs. 

By engaging Capcon Engineering early in the design process we were able coordinate the rainwater drainage concurrently with the other services, mitigating any potential cost increases or programme delays.

Situated on a flood plain the building design utilises stilts and an undercroft which presented some interesting challenges. Unusually, siphonic pipework was suspended below the Ground Floor slab within this undercroft. Capcon Engineering worked in collaboration with the Civil Engineers on the project to design the siphonic pipework and specified a corrosion resistant bracketry system which would be suitable for use in such an environment.